Klitschko Foundation team plays for Europe

20 October 2016

In May the representatives of Klitschko Foundation Nadiia Synytsia and Dmytro Kryzhanivskii together with FC "Dinaz" and FC "Good" took part in the 56th international youth meeting, which is held together with the youth football tournament "Youth plays for Europe" in Osterode, Germany. Within the 10 days, the participants did not only trained and competed for championship, but have also discovered a new country and found new friends.

The cooperation of the youth and sports associations, as well as FC "Westharz" from the city of Osterode, have been inviting young athletes for the past two years. For the 55 years the project attended more than 5,000 teams from 30 countries. This year, together with the teams from the different federal states of Germany, teams from Poland and Czech Republic, the youth organization from Senegal and Klitschko Foundation from Ukraine are also invited.

For Klitschko Foundations it is a pilot project, because it is the first time as the organization takes part in it. At the tournament the teams of FC "Dinaz" and FC "Good" represented Ukraine in two age categories U-15 and U-17, which took, as follows, the 6th and the 5th places. The first place in the category U-15 took the FC Westharz, which has managed not only to organize an international football tournament, but also to win. For the Winners’ cup in the category U-17 competed TuSpo Petershütte against HSC Hannover. The winning goal for the team TuSpo Petershütte scored our player, Nesenenko Rostyslav, who played for the German, because of injuries they sought players. As a sing of gratitude and respect the coach of the winning team personally handed the cup to the author decisive goal. In this way, our team got its special victory.

In 2013, the project "Youth plays for Europe" was awarded the European civil award of the European Parliament, because along with first-class youth football tournament the lead role plays here international meeting and cultural exchange. Young people from all over Europe not just play football and spend time together, but also learn to be open, friendly, respectful and tolerant. And in times of constant internal and external conflicts the young people are the ones, who show and prove that not only in Europe but all over the world we can live peacefully and amicably.

"I really like that the tournament involves teams from different countries. I have met with many participants and during these two weeks we became close friends. They opened for me a lot of new things and helped to look at things from the other side. It turns out, that we have much in common, and it's not just football. I realized that no matter from which country you come from or which nationality you are, the main thing – what kind of human you are. And if we all work hard to become better, all together we can change the world for the better ", the player of FC “Good” Alex Ivanov, 15 years old.

Each year the tournament is officially opened with a festive parade which runs through the city and is accompanied by a local musical orchestra and national anthems of the participating countries, this year - with the Ukrainian also. In their best football strip participants greeted people in the town and helped the orchestra with music by singing, dancing and even competing for the right to be called the most loud and active team. And in the end, it was absolutely not important to which team you belong, as the whole parade turned into a festival.

At the opening of the tournament the participants were welcomed by the officials of the city hall, the Lower Saxony parliament and the European Parliament, and the local school prepared the evening entertainment show. The most memorable performance for everyone was the cheerleading dance and aerobic dance workout sport from grandmothers. But the most stunning was the local band, which performed modern hits in instrumental version directly on the balcony above the stage and spectators.

Besides football tournament participants expected also an intensive training program prepared by their coaches and mentors including: morning exercises, practices and friendly matches, as well as a leisure time program. In their free time, our athletes became acquainted with other participants, played quest games, hiked, visited an aqua park and spent evenings the cozy atmosphere of new friends.

The weather wasn’t always favorable, so we had to play in the heat and rain. And at the end of matches, the coaches united in one team played against each other and even against the local women football team. In general, the atmosphere at the the tournament was friendly, everybody was enjoying hot summer weather, German specialties, and in free time – meeting and having fun.

"Most of all I remember the game day, when we had to jump on one leg with the ball, to play football tennis, to score goals with a huge ball into small gates. But the most fun we had during the water game, when we had to pour water a losing team, but after all everybody was wet, even the coaches, mentors, organizers and spectators”, the player of FC "Dinaz”, Mykola Rudenko, 14 years old.

For the Ukrainian youth, the project "Youth plays for Europe" was a great opportunity to try to compete on the international level and to represent the country with quality at the exceptionally high football tournament. In addition to that, young athletes have only represented Ukraine with pride, but also promised to come back next year and to win.

"The main goal of the tournament is not just a race for winning, but expansion of borders and promoting intercultural dialogue. By playing, talking, helping each other we obtain valuable knowledge, form personal values ​​and gain important experience. Participation in such competitions is an important step towards ambitious and successful young people”, Nadiia Synytsia, representative of Klitschko Foundation.